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Abstract

The central aim of the thesis is to cast light on the status of Anonymity.

I try to provide an overview of the main areas of law that support anonymity or require identifiability. In doing this, I focus on the approach of the United States of America (USA) in deriving an anonymity right from the right to freedom of speech set out in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Then I explore the European approach to anonymity and the different laws in national or European Community (EC) legislation which allow for or encourage anonymous communication, or which require identifiability. Thereafter I try to see how certain data protection laws treat anonymity, my focus on this point being the provisions of Directives 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC.